Randy Vásquez to start Saturday vs. Marlins

Vásquez started this one after a few relief appearances. He tossed two scoreless innings, stranding two runners in the first inning, then gave up one run on a hit batter, base hit, and sacrifice fly in the third. Vásquez would be done with two outs in the inning at 37 pitches. He did not record a strikeout. The 27-year-old right-hander ends the day with a 4.68 ERA, 1.51 WHIP, and a 63/29 K/BB ratio across 90 1/3 innings. With a day off on Monday, he may revert to long relief his next time out.

Instead of giving Vásquez a start against the Braves this week, the Padres decided to have him piggyback with Germán Márquez today. Vásquez definitely put together the better performance of the two, so maybe he’ll start next time through, assuming that he isn’t needed in relief again before then.

The 27-year-old hurler had been sidelined since July 3 due to a right ankle bruise. He’s likely to rejoin the Padres’ rotation on Monday or Tuesday against the Braves in Atlanta. Jhony Brito was optioned to Triple-A El Paso in a corresponding move on Sunday.

Vásquez was injured when he took a comebacker off of his ankle during the first inning on Thursday. While he only sustained a bruise, it was going to cost him his next turn in the rotation, so the Padres made the wise decision to place him on the injured list and get a fresh arm added to their bullpen.

X-Rays were negative, tests came back clean, but it sounds like Vásquez demonstrated some concussion symptoms and it wouldn’t be surprising if he wound up on the 7-day IL.

Vásquez was on his way to undergo X-rays on his ankle when he fainted. Those were deemed necessary because he took a Mookie Betts comebacker off his leg in the first inning, though he remained in until being pulled after three innings due to ineffectiveness. He was stable and conscious after fainting.

The Padres lack quality alternatives, but removing Vásquez from the rotation seems like the only appropriate move at this point. He’s given up 18 runs — 14 earned — in 9 2/3 innings over his last three outings, striking out just two batters in the process. The Padres won eight of his first nine starts this year, but they’ve now lost seven of his last eight turns. If he stays in the rotation, he’ll face the D-backs on Tuesday.

The Padres used Kyle Hart as an opener tonight to avoid Vásquez facing Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman right away, only to have him face Ohtani and Freeman right away to begin the third inning. Vásquez dropped to 6-6 with a 4.56 ERA, and those encouraging signs from April are long gone now. Vásquez is due to face the Dodgers again on Thursday, but the Padres could again have him pitch behind an opener or try some sort of different arrangement.

Vásquez, who gave up a leadoff homer to Shohei Ohtani last time he faced the Dodgers, still figures to work behind Hart as a bulk guy. It’ll be the first time this year that the Padres have used as an opener in front of him.

Vásquez took the mound with a 5-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning and worked as fast as he could to let the Rangers whittle away that lead. An error by Vásquez to start the game allowed Joc Pederson to reach base. He would then allow six of the next seven batters he faced to reach base, three of whom doubled, with Jake Burgers’ double officially tying the game at 5-5. A single by Elias Díaz would drive in Burger to put the Rangers up 6-5 before the inning came to an end. Vásquez would be pulled with one out in the fourth inning after allowing an RBI double to Wyatt Langford to put the Rangers up 7-6. This was easily the worst start of the season for Vásquez, who struggled to stay in the strike zone at times and was hit hard when he did manage to get the ball over the plate. He’ll hope for a better outing in his next start on Wednesday against the Braves.